Finally, he is also the second American to win the Formula 1 World Championship. He achieved success at Indianapolis and at the Daytona 500, took top spoils at the Daytona and Sebring endurance events, conquering several championships and titles along the way.

He triumphed on dirt tracks, speedways, clockwise and counter clockwise courses, and on the mighty climb to Pikes Peak. On the other hand, assessing this living legend’s legacy is easy.Īs the greatest all-around driver in the history of the sport, Mario Andretti won in midgets, sprint cars, stock cars, sports cars, Indy cars and Grand Prix machines. It would probably be easier to sum up the Old Testament on the back of a postcard than to write a one page summary of Mario Andretti’s extraordinary achievements in motor racing. More than two decades of hard work and sweat later, Andretti would be crowned the 1978 Formula One World Champion at that very same track. Mario Andretti’s love of racing began as a young boy while watching the 1954 Italian Grand Prix in Monza, Italy. The following is an excerpt from the book, The American Legacy in Formula 1, by Phillip van Osten.

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